De Vere to sell hotels and go for Village people

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Andrew Coppel, the chairman of De Vere Group says: "This is the start of a
new era"Russell Sachs

Dominic Walsh

Last updated at 12:01AM, January 16 2012

De Vere Group is poised to hoist a “for sale” sign over five of its hotels and conference venues as it focuses investment on expanding its three-star Village Hotels business.

The company, which is controlled by Lloyds Banking Group, appointed a new chief executive to Village last week to steer the development of up to 18 new hotels over the next few years.

Robert Cook, who takes the reins at Village today, has won praise for his stewardship of the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin chains over the past eight years and stands to reap private equity-style rewards if he